Starlight
by AlexMax
Summary: The sequel to Moonlight. Can Ayeka find it within herself to bring Ryoko, Tenchi and herself back together?


*blank space due to half of my laptop's screen not working _-_*  
  
Note to pre-readers: If you have comments about a particular line or sentance,  
just put the comment with a before it on the line after the part you wish  
to comment on.  
  
"Why won't you let me, let me come along...  
Come along...come along...  
Why won't you let me, let me come along...  
Come along...come along...  
  
Wherever you go, I'm going for you...  
I was truely born to follow...  
Like fire and wood, and paper and glue...  
Only a few were born to follow...  
  
And the stars will show...where the waters flow...  
Where the gardens grow...thats where I'll meet you...  
And the sun will glow...melting all the snow...  
Knowing all I know...thats where I'll meet you..."  
  
-Roxette, "Stars"  
  
The night can be an enigma. By it's very nature, night time is dark,  
lit only by the light of the stars and the moon, on occasions that the  
moon feels like bestowing its soft glow on the Earth below. But things  
happen at night that you would never see in the daytime. Something  
about this cloak of darkness punctuated sparsly by a few glowing  
heavenly bodies brings out both the best and worst in people. Lovers  
kiss for the first time, a defenseless victem is murdered in an alley,  
children are conceived, a hopeless person throws himself from a tall  
cliff, all of these things happen at night quite a bit more often at  
night than in the daytime. Or at least they are associated with night,  
and seem to happen more often at night, which only deepens the mystery  
of the night.  
  
It's an enigma why this happens. Perhaps the human psyche thinks that  
the blanket of night can hide their true identities, so they are free  
to act as they please. Or perhaps the night strips people of their  
mask that they wear out in the crowds in the daytime, so that one  
can see the true feelings, the true emotions, of the person they  
thought they knew so well under the guise of daylight.  
  
Or perhaps the night can be described as a place where emotions are  
free to flow, free from the prying eyes of those who were not meant  
to konw such secrets that an individual only releases under the  
relative secracy of the dark night.  
  
That, perhaps could accuratly describe what had just transpired one  
night at and around the Masaki household. In that night alone,  
love was crystalized, feelings were shattered, people ran toward  
paradise and ran away from pain, and when it was all said in done,  
Tenchi and Ayeka were in each other's arms.  
  
Ryoko was nowhere to be found, having ran away from Tenchi upon seeing  
Tenchi and Ayeka walking togeter, on the way back from the diretion of  
the shrine. But this peculiar behavior was not unnoticed by Tenchi, as  
he saw her vanish, and the connections he made in his mind brought him  
straight to shame at how he had treated Ryoko. Finally becoming honest  
with himself was one of the hardest things Tenchi ever did, but Ryokos  
disappearence triggered a chain reaction that finally ended up with a  
confession of love of both girls to Ayeka. Against all odds, Ayeka had  
accepted, and led them to the position they were now in.  
  
But as they held each other, there was the unresolved situation with  
Ryoko, a thorn in the back of Tenchi's mind. He knew he had to find  
her soon...or else...something would happen. Perhaps she would come  
back by herself. Perhaps she would run away. Tenchi was not about to  
take chances.  
  
He had already come to terms with himself. But unbeknownst to him,  
someone else would have to do so as well in order for him to be  
reunited with the one who ran from him.  
  
"Starlight: Moonlight Act II"  
  
Layer 01  
  
By AlexMax  
  
- = = = = -  
  
Warmth.  
  
That is the feeling that Tenchi felt as he slowly regained  
conciousness.  
  
For a few seconds, his mind registered a source of immense heat.  
However, before long, his mind woke up to the point that it realized  
that is was getting the sensory feedback from the wrong damn sense,  
and that he was actually comfortable, if quite gorggy. Rather, the  
intense sensory feedback was coming from inside his consiousness, and  
his mind finally translated to a pleasureable feelig.  
  
Thusly, Tenchi woke up slowly, the pleasure relaxing his body, kind of  
like waking up from a pleasurable dream. Gradually, his memory started  
to heed the call of the morning, and as Tenchi slowly opened his eyes,  
the memory of the events of last night was already fresh in his mind,  
and he embraced the warm memory like a cozy blanket in the middle of a  
cold winters night.  
  
*Yes...Ten-chan...I understand...* Ayeka had said...  
  
Tenchi closed his eyes once more in bliss. He had never really thought  
about actually being in love with them until last night. But now it  
seemed like they were one of those things that you never miss...until  
they're gone.  
  
Until they're...gone...  
  
Tenchi slowly opened his eyes once more. He knew he had to get up...to  
make sure Ryoko hadn't done anything...drastic...  
  
With a grunt, Tenchis muscles finally responded to his mind screaming  
for them to move. He sat up in his bed and stretched, as if to try and  
release the sleeply feelings from his body. After trying that a few  
times with little success, he finally accepted that he would have to  
deal with the consiquences of staying up so late last night.  
  
Tenchi yawned again and cast his attention to outside his window. The  
sky was a clear blue, punctuated occationally by a white cloud. The  
sun was reasonably high in the sky, not nearly as high as it was at  
noon, but enough to let Tenchi know without looking at his watch that  
he had slept through more than a few hours of sunlight. The sun shone  
brightly, the reflection that it made off of the water was enough to  
make Tenchi squint, and the light gave an intense warmth to the greens  
of trees. Fomally, Tenchi's body gave up it's fight to stay asleep,  
faced with this onslaught of intense visual feedback.  
  
He finally got up from his bed and put on a new set of clothes. It  
seemed that today would be another long hot summer day, just like  
yesterday. Finaly getting fully clothed, he slid open his door with  
a soft hiss and made a short trip to the bathroom. Tenchi groaned as  
he noticed that the hole in the wall was still there. But as he looked  
over the damage, he came to the realization that only the plumbing in  
the shower was ruptured, and the sink and toilet, by all accounts, were  
just fine. *Thank goodness for small favors* he thought as he brushed  
his teeth. After taking care of some *cough* *cough* other business,  
his ears cocked for any indication that someone could be inadvertantly  
walking in on him, he made his way downstairs.  
  
"Ryoko?" he called hopefully as he walked downstairs.  
  
No response.  
  
He finally made his way all the way to the first floor. He then walked  
from room to room, looking up in the rafters, looking for as much as a  
lock of cyan blue hair to tell him that the one he loved was still  
there. But his search ended up fruitless.  
  
So she *had* left after all. Tenchi knew what this meant. And once he  
got some breakfast, he would put his plan into action.  
  
Suddenly, he got a bit of an idea. Heading back toward the staircase,  
he walked toward the door where the lab of a particular red-haired  
genius happened to be. But as he approached the door, he saw a sign on  
the door.  
  
*Testing phase of new project*  
*DO NOT DISTURB!*  
  
Tenchi stood there for a moment. Should he attempt to ask Washu about  
Ryoko? Especially considering what happened the LAST time he was in  
her lab. He didn't want to but if it involved Ryoko...  
  
Tenchi approached the doorway and turned the handle....  
  
...only to find the normal closet where the lab should have been.  
Tenchi blinked, and then noticed a little Post-it-Note on one of the  
shelves in the closet. Curius, he examined it closer. It read, in  
a neat handwriting that had a 'professional' look to it, and in red  
pen:  
  
*Damnit, when I say do not disturb,*  
*I MEAN DO NOT DISTURB!!!*  
  
Tenchi blinked again, and slowly backed out of the closet, softly  
shutting the door to the closet behind him.  
  
  
At this particular moment, the purple haired princess which Tenchi had  
been thinking about upon his waking was slowly becoming aware of  
herself as her eyes fluttered open. She took her hand and rubbed them  
slowly, to release Mr. Sandman's hold on them, and finally finnising,  
she sighed deeply.  
  
It took her a few moments to become intelligently cohearent, but as  
soon as she did, memories of the night before trickled through her mind,  
and she reacted to the fond memories with a full body blush the likes  
of which Tenchi would had never seen.  
  
As she awoke more and more, the trickle turned into a a well moderated  
emotional stream. Not a flood, instead, she savored the feeling, letting  
it creep over every fibre of her being like a full body massage.  
  
Though as she glanced to her side, noticing how lonely she was in her  
futon, a massage didn't seem like a bad idea either...especially if it  
was given by...oh...  
  
Her blush reddened and she giggled....yes GIGGLED...as she curled up in  
her futon in egar and bliss. She had indeed nevre felt quite this way  
before. So in love, yet this time, she was confident that her love  
wouldn't run away from her.  
  
Finally, she uncurled herself to release tension and she sighed as she  
slowly got up and put on her kimono, humming to herself. Having done  
that, she walked, with a certian bounce in her step, out into the hall  
and into the kitchen.  
  
Tenchi was waiting for her when she got there. He looked up at her and  
smiled as she made her way around the table to him and sat down next to  
him.   
  
"How are we doing this morning, Ae-chan?"  
  
Ayeka turned her head to his and smiled back at him. No, not that  
half-smile that she normally used, This smile was a geniune smile of  
happiness and contentment, one that Tenchi had not seen Ayeka ever  
wear before, and it satisfied him that for the moment, she actually  
*looked* happy.  
  
Tenchi took all of this mental information in mere fractions of a  
second, which is the time it took for Ayeka's verbal response to  
confirm what he already knew.  
  
"Wonderful, Ten-chan." replied Ayeka, in a content and happy voice.  
"Simply wonderful."  
  
Idley, Tenchi wondered why he hadn't invited Ayeka to his room last  
night. He had not thought that thought two seconds before his  
conciousness smacked sense into him. *Baka Hentai* he told himself  
*Dad's genes are catching up to you.* But suddenly, he realized  
something. That incident last night had changed him. Indeed, he  
had become angry when he 'snapped' last night, but that had subsided.  
He felt different than he had 24 hours ago, in a different way. Could  
it be that his admitting his love for the girls had made him...a little  
more confident? A little daring, perhaps? He normally never had  
thoughts that he had just had. But was this change even a bad thing?  
  
Tenchi finally closed the line of thought, and saved it for later.  
He still wasn't going to go in any serious direction until he had  
found Ryoko. He didn't want to hurt her feeling any more than he  
already had.  
  
Suddenly, Ayeka's smile wained somewhat. Before Tenchi could inquire  
Ayeka what was wrong, she spoke:  
  
"Has there been any sign of Ryoko?" she asked Tenchi, in a somewhat  
concerned tone.  
  
She knew the answer, by the sheer absence of Ryoko from the table with  
Tenchi. But she wanted to convey her concern. Ayeka felt that if  
Tenchi was to beleive that she was genuinely accepting Ryoko, she had  
to start somewhere.  
  
"No, I'm afraid not." replied Tenchi with a depressed sigh. He cast  
his eyes downward and began to sulk. *So she really did run  
away...*  
  
How could he have been so cruel...  
  
*Now wait just a second...* Tenchi's said, suddenly realizing  
something. *We have already been down this road before, last night.  
Why go down it again?*  
  
Tenchi pondered that thought for a moment. Why *was* it in his...no...  
in human nature to constantly remind themselves of the bad things that  
have happened? There were many bad memories he had that he thought he  
would have moved on from, but he would always end up thinking about  
those sooner or later...  
  
He realized how he was thinking and did the mental equivilent of  
chuckling to himself. Hell, at this rate, he thought he might become  
a philosipher. Or perhaps...perhaps he was just on his journey of  
self-discovery, his own maturing.  
  
Tenchi glanced up at Ayeka, who was now at his side, gazing down at him  
with a sad, concerned look. He had, after all, been dealing with some  
mature situations recently. And perhaps...he had Ayeka and Ryoko to  
thank for it.  
  
But enough of these thoughts for now. There was another situation that  
needed his attention, and he didn't want to become sidetracked Tenchi  
saved the train of thought, however, for a later time.  
  
Ayeka finally sat down next to Tenchi and placed her hands, one on top  
of the other, on the table. She looked in Tenchi's direction.  
  
"Is she...gone?" Ayeka asked Tenchi.  
  
Tenchi placed his hand on top of Ayeka's as he responded:  
  
"No...I don't think so..."  
  
That was a lie. He really had no idea where Ryoko was, and if she had  
actually left Earth. But Ayeka...could it be that Ayeka was actually  
concerned about Ryoko? She *had* asked abuot her...so perhaps...she  
was genuinely concerned for her?  
  
Tenchi pondered that thought. Perhaps Ayeka had some growing up of  
her own...  
  
Damnit. He had gotten sidetracked again. Tenchi finnished his  
sentance:  
  
"But we'll all go look for her after Breakfast."  
  
Speaking of which...  
  
"Sasami?" Tenchi called into the adjacent kitchen.  
  
"Tenchi-nichan?"  
  
"How soon is Breakfast going to be ready?" Tenchi asked, politely. He,  
of course, knew better than *demand* anything from Sasami, for the day  
he did, he would probably be met with a frying pan aimed straight at  
his head. But then again, how could anyone be anything *but* nice and  
kind to Sasami?  
  
"It will be ready in a little bit, Tenchi." replied Sasami. "By the  
way," she added, poking her head out from the kitchen. "Can you find  
Ryoko and tell her when breakfast is going to be ready? I havn't seen  
her this morning, and I know she doesn't like missing meals."  
  
A bead of sweat formed on the back of Tenchi and Ayeka's head, as they  
looked at each other, and back at Sasami. They both knew what the  
other was thinking.  
  
*How in the hell are we going to explain this?*  
  
This unusualy behavior was not unnoticed by Sasami, who immediatly got  
a look of suspicision on her face. Inquisitively, she gazed over Ayeka  
and Tenchi, trying to read their body language. Failing that, she  
asked:  
  
"What? Is something wrong with her?"  
  
"Ahhh....errrr....well...." said Tenchi, stuttering quite noticably.  
  
"It's all right, Tenchi." said Ayeka. "I'll tell her."  
  
With a sigh, Ayeka told her younger sister the events of the past  
night, rather breifly. When she finnished, she looked for some sort  
of expression on Sasami's face; "...but unfortuniatly...we still don't  
know why Ryoko vanished...."  
  
Silence followed Ayeka's story as both Tenchi and Ayeka waited for some  
sort of reaction from Sasami. Finally, Sasami responded.  
  
"Well oneesama...I...I don't know what to think." said Sasami. "I'm  
happy for you and Tenchi, but Ryoko vanishing like that for no reason  
just seems so sad..."  
  
"It's OK, Sasami. We are going to look for her after breakfast."  
assured Tenchi.  
  
"Really?" asked Sasami, her tone suddenly - and understandably -  
excited. Ayeka nodded an affirmative.  
  
Sasami's reaction was almost instantanious. "Good, because I want to  
help out in any way I can." Sasami replied, a smile now on her face.  
  
"Thank you, Sasami." said Ayeka, releived at how well Sasami was taking  
this development. "That's very kind of you."  
  
  
Breakfast passed pretty much without event. Noboyuki had gone to  
work early again, no doubt another attempt to please his boss so he  
would forget about that 'unethical' work incident. Mihoshi was still  
not due to visit again until a few more day, which was a releif since  
that day would be when he would have to rebuild his house again;  
although Washu did most of the work. Washu still refused to come out  
of her lab for her experiment.  
  
Finally, Tenchi and Ayeka started off into the forest.  
  
"Hold on, I'll join you guys in a minute." called Sasami from the  
house. She had stayed behind, saying that she would clean the dishes  
so the others could get a head start.  
  
She waited a few minutes after they left. Then, she walked out to the  
shed and opened the door.  
  
"Ryo-oh-oki?" she caclled.  
  
From within the darkness of the shed, Ryo-oh-oki popped out of the  
shed with a carrot in her mouth, which she was eagerly devouring.  
  
"Thanks for staying in here for that little bit." said Sasami. "Is  
Ryoko still sad?"  
  
Ryo-oh-oki, in a rare instance, stopped eatig her carrot long enough  
to shake her head no, sadly.  
  
"I see..." said Sasami, a little saddened by the news that Ryoko was  
still in no mood to talk to her own cabbit. "Well, do you think we  
could go ahead and pull off the plan?'  
  
As Ryo-oh-oki polished off the carrot, she gave a resounding "Miya!"  
of approval.  
  
"Thanks Ryo-oh-oki." said Sasami, with a smile. "You're always so  
nice."  
  
Ryo-oh-oki "Miya'ed" with approval and jumped on top of Sasami's head,  
where it made itself a nice resting spot.  
  
"Now let's go over the plan one more time..." said Sasami, as she and  
Ryo-oh-oki went from the shed out into the forest.  
  
  
Tenchi squinted as he gazed up into the trees. The afternoon sun was  
quite hot and intense, and Tenchi could *feel* the humidity in the air  
as the heat bathed him. The sunlight broke through the trees in  
certain places, creating a patchwork quilt of light on the ground  
Tenchi trod on and was surrounded by; as well as giging the upper  
canapy of the trees a warm green glow.  
  
Slowly, ever so slowly, Tenchi finally brought his steps to a halt. He  
listened, for something, anything that might indicate a human presence.  
But the sound of summertime insects was the only thing that greeted his  
ears.  
  
He sat down, disappointed. It had been a few hours since he had  
started looking for Ryoko, but he had had no luck in finding even a  
trace of her. He sighed in sorrow. He had really wished that she  
hadn't run away, so he could go ahead and apologize to her. This  
tumor of burdon on him had grown since last night.  
  
But now, he had been looking for a while. He needed a little time off,  
for a rest.  
  
Tenchi took out his sketchpad and glanced over it. His sketchpad. One  
of his only escapes from the real world. The harsh real world. In his  
sketchbook he could show his inner emotions through without fear of  
them being critiqued baised on that attributes. Perhaps it might be  
something he could do for a living....but no matter now...  
  
Tenchi took out a pencil and sat down. As he began to draw, the rustle  
of leaves in a gust of wind blew past him and elsewhere into the  
forest...  
  
  
As this was happeneing, someone else nearby felt that very same breeze.  
Ayeka coughed for a few moments from the dust that it kicked up and  
kept walking around the forest with no particular pattern. She was  
only half-looking for Ryoko. In fact, her mind was ablaze with  
thoughts, the only company she needed in this rather remote section of  
the forest.  
  
She was humming to herself. She felt wonderful, relaxed, happy and...  
and....  
  
Some feeling that she couldn't quite identify. She had never felt  
quite this way before.  
  
Was this what it was like to be...truely content?  
  
She had felt content in her life before. This feeling was not unkown  
to herBut none of those feelings were as meaningful as this one was.  
  
Or as powerful.  
  
There was something that was associated with this feeling that she had  
never quite experienced before...and she couldn't quite identify it.  
There was no name for the feeling, at least none she knew in her  
vernacular.  
  
It couldn't be love. She had experienced love twice before, and it  
never felt like this. It felt similar, but...augmented to a degree.  
Or perhaps...  
  
Or perhaps she had never felt true love before. Ayeka mentally gapsed  
at the thought. Could it be that she thought that she was truely in  
love all this time, and all she had felt was a crush or an enfatuation?  
Had she put too much emotional dependance on him? What if he had  
actually chosen Ryoko, or someone else? What would she have done then?  
  
Suddenly, Ayeka decided to drop the subject. She was over-analyzing it  
anyway. No matter which way she looked at it, she had finally won the  
object of her affection. What more could she ask for?  
  
Well, she *did* wish that she could have Tenchi to herself. But she  
knew that sometimes things didn't turn out picture-perfect...  
  
Damnit. She was over-analyzing it again...  
  
"Oneesama?"  
  
Snapping Ayeka out of her train of thought, she almost jumped when she  
heard the voice. But then Ayeka calmed herself down, recognizing the  
voice half a second later. She tried to remove her startled look and  
turned around and smiled at the intruder.  
  
"Yes Sasami?" Ayeka said.  
  
Sasami didn't waste a single second getting to her point.  
  
"I think I might have seen something..." replied Sasami.  
  
"What?" said Ayeka. Almost in unison with that word, her heart  
started to race.  
  
"I don't know, oneesama. I think it was by Ryoko's old cave."  
  
Ryoko's old cave....of course!  
  
Ayeka's heart beat faster. So Sasami had found Ryoko...  
  
Ayeka nodded to Sasami, and with that, she took Sasami by the hand and  
started walking back in the direction Sasami had come from. She knew  
the way to the cave well, having lived in the Masaki household for so  
long, yet she took her time. In fact, if Sasami had glanced up at her  
sister as they walked, she would have noticed Ayeka looking rather  
nervous. It was the kind of feeling one would get if one were summoned  
to the principal's office while at school, or summoed by your  
administrator while at work, with feelings of fright, anticipation and  
nervousness all at once.  
  
She wasn't sure what to expect. Not just out of Ryoko, but out of  
herself. Less than 24 hours earlier, she had been at odds with this  
woman over the one whom both of them loved. And now she was going to  
try and convince her former worst enemy to come back to the Masaki  
household.  
  
Would she say the right things?  
  
Would Ryoko take her seriously?  
  
Would it work?  
  
Ayeka absentmindedly looked up at the vibrant bright blue sky as she  
walked through the forest. She silently prayed to kami-sama that  
everything would work out for the best.  
  
  
A good distance away, another pair of eyes were also looking up at the  
sky. A moistness covered the pair of cat-like amber eyes, and the sun,  
now higher up in the sky, illuminated a head of light cyan hair with an  
uncanny brilliance that only the late summer sun can seem to provide.  
  
Sitting down with her feet outstreched, Ryoko slowly closed her eyes  
and tensed her muscles, to appriciate more fully the warmth of the sun.  
She held the position for a moment before relzxing her muscles relaxed.  
Suddenly aware of a slight light-headed-ness that one gets from doing  
such things, she slowly lowered herself down onto her back and opened  
her eyes.  
  
Her eyes danced around her surroundings, the slight dampness in her  
eyes augmenting the intensity of the things around her. The vibrant  
colors surrounding her almost overwhelemd her acute senses. She had  
seen these surroundings many times before, but she was now looking at  
them as a newborn would, as if you were looking at them for the first  
time. Such things happen after earth-shattering events, when your life  
seemingly crumbles down around you, and things you normally took for  
granted are now appriciated.  
  
But enough of that. Her eyes wandered up to the sky. The brilliant  
blue sky...in her rational mind she knew that the sky was simply light  
bending tricks played by the sun...but she still couldn't help a sense  
of...of....  
  
Ryoko absentmindedly took a lock of her hair and held it above her  
face, not securely, but rather loosely, as to let several strands  
dangle loose, and to allow light to pour through the strands.  
  
*This is my hair* she told herself. *This is part of my substance.  
This is me.*  
  
But she didn't feel herself. What she felt instead was a void, an  
empty shell.  
  
She had been brought up to know combat. All her life had been a  
torture. But for just over a year, she had been free. She had broken  
free of her bondage, and was free to life her life as she pleased. But  
what was it all for? What did she have to live for?  
  
Ryoko tried to reason with herself. But no matter which path she took,  
the signs always poitned back to one thing.  
  
Tenchi.  
  
The only thing she had to live for.  
  
And she had blown it.  
  
What was the answer?  
  
Suicide? No, that was the coward's way out.  
  
Go back? No way in hell. Who knows what that bitch-princess would  
have in store for her. She had won. And how could she face Tenchi  
again...after...after...  
  
Suddenly, she heard a noise. She sprang to her feet, in an attempt to  
survey her surroundings. But as she did that, her senses told her that  
she had been spotted. She registered the direction of the intruder in  
less than a second, and quickly looked in the direction.  
  
There stood Ayeka, in her kimono that she wore so often around the  
house. Ryoko made her best attempt to banish the sad look from her  
face and replace it with one of defiance, but she only half-suceeded.  
She prayed that she wouldn't be seen as a coward - especially in front  
of *her*.  
  
But something different about Ayeka registered with Ryoko. She studied  
her, and she found that Ayeka's body did not convery a threatening or  
tense gesture, bur rather...a calm one, one Ayeka rarely used when  
addressing her.  
  
But no taking chances. Ryoko didn't want to be caught off guard by  
a seemingly friendly gesture.  
  
"So what do you want?" Ryoko spat. Or at least she *tried* to sound  
harsh, but it had little sucess.  
  
"I need to talk to you, Ryoko." Ayeka said, in a calm, subtly concerned  
voice.  
  
"OK, so you found me here." she said, a bit gentler this time "What do  
you want from me?" If it was a conversation she wanted, Ryoko reasoned  
that she might as well cut to the chase and get it over with.  
  
"Well..." Ayeka said, letting the word roll off her tounge for a few  
moments, trying to sound genuinely concerned. "We are all looking for  
you, Ryoko."  
  
"Looking for me?" asked Ryoko. She thought for a second, then sighed  
and said, bitterly. "Probably Sasami's idea. She was about the only  
one who gave a damn about me."  
  
Ayeka sighed to herself. She's just as stubborn as ever.  
  
"Would you do 'everyone' a favor though?" Ryoko added, taking on a  
note of pleading. "Don't tell them where I am. I'm fine by myself."  
  
Ayeka folded her arms as she responded:  
  
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Ryoko."  
  
"Look, we didn't see each other, alright?" said Ryoko, trying the same  
tack again. "A few days will pass, and you guys will forget about me.  
Just wait it out." She knew she was lying through her teeth, but she  
knew she had to stay away...or risk facing...  
  
Ayeka groaned, knowing that the devil himself was handing her greatest  
wish to her on a silver platter. Refusing to accept it, she steeled  
herself and tried a response.  
  
"No...Ryoko..." Ayeka tried to say. But Ryoko cut her off and  
appended to her argument.  
  
"Hell, you even said so yourself that Tenchi can't stand the sight of  
me."  
  
Somehow, Ayeka was stopped cold. Her lips parted and closed several  
times, but no words came to her. She knew in the the back of her mind  
that Ryoko would eventually bring up this point. Why then, she  
thought, had she not come up with a reasonable answer.  
  
Ryoko, seeing that Ayeka had nothing to say, continued.  
  
"That's probably why he finally worked up the courage to choose you  
last night..."  
  
And with that statement, a question mark about the size of Osaka  
somehow fit into the mind of Ayeka. Chosen? Hadn't that been the  
entire point of Tenchi's admitance of love? She hadn't even seen  
Tenchi or her since Tenchi yelled at her. Except for that incident,  
where she just...dsaapper.  
  
Perhaps she thought that by giving up, which is what she was  
apparently doing, she had come to the conclusion that she had lost.  
Yes, that seemed likely.  
  
Once more, Ryoko continued:  
  
"Yes, I finally got the picture when I saw you two walking away from  
the shine...together." she added, a little hesitantly. "And I was so  
close to apologizing to him too....and then I saw you two...and I  
just couldn't..."  
  
As Ryoko spoke those words, Ayeka's heart skipped a beat. So this was  
it. That was why Ryoko just disappeared. She thought Tenchi hates her  
now. Ayeka felt a slight pang of guilt. If she had not followed  
Tenchi, Ryoko would have apologized to Tenchi, and none of this would  
have happened.  
  
She discarded the guilt, however. How was she to know what Ryoko was  
doing. But this whole situation read like something out of a bad  
sitcom or soap opera. Perhaps...then...there was a bit of truth to  
them.  
  
But enough of that. How would she get Ryoko and Tenchi back together?  
  
*WHAT DID YOU JUST THINK!?!?!* a part of Ayeka screamed at her. *Have  
you lost your mind? Why in the world would you WANT Tenchi and Ryoko  
to be re-united?*  
  
*We already went over this.* she told herself. *I told Tenchi that I  
accepted his love for her. And promises must be kept, no matter if  
you made them to your true love or the scum of the universe.*  
  
*Fine fine...* she mentally responded, bitterly.  
  
Her thought process completed, she now realized what she had to do.  
She had to tell Tenchi that Ryoko was here, so Tenchi could apologize  
to Ryoko himself.  
  
It was then when Ayeka realized that Ryoko had not yet finnished her  
sentance.  
  
"So I'm going to leave tonight."  
  
Ayeka groaned. Damn it all.  
  
"There is nothing here for me anymore." Ryoko said, finnishing her  
sentance.  
  
No, not good. Not good at all. Frantically, Ayeka tried to think of  
something to keep Ryoko on Earth, short of brute force.   
  
"But Sasami..." she ejaculated, before she thought about what she was  
saying.  
  
"Yeah, what about her?" Ryoko shot back.  
  
"She couldn't stnad it here without you. As much as I hate to admit  
it, you are one of her best friends, and she would be crushed if you  
left."  
  
"Yeah, well she's like that to everyone..." Ryoko said, trying to  
sound nonchalaunt, but being largely unsucessful, as a teardrop formed  
in her eyes.  
  
"But what about your mother?" pleaded Ayeka, desporatly trying a  
different tack.  
  
"She probably won't care. She's too wrapped up in her experiments to  
care." said Ryoko, desporatly trying to hold back her tears.  
  
"But Tenchi..." she screamed, finally getting it right.  
  
"What? Hates my guts?"  
  
"No! Not at all! He's been looking for you all day..."  
  
"Guilt trip."  
  
Ayeka fumed, almsot at the point of pulling her hair out. Why did that  
woman have to be so unreasonable. Suddenly, Ayeka heard a click in her  
mind...  
  
...and the next thing she knew, her hand had left a quite sizable red  
mark on Ryoko's face. Ryoko looked stunned for a half second, before  
her eyes went from tears to fury.  
  
"HEY! How *dare* you! And what the HELL was that for."  
  
Now that is the Ryoko that Ayeka always knew. So damn predictable..,  
...but now for phase two.  
  
"How dare YOU!" yelled Ayeka. "There are people who CARE about you  
here, and you try to deceive yourself by trying to act indifferent by  
the fact that you are leaving them all behind."  
  
Much to Ayeka's surprise, she felt the sting of a returned slap on her  
on cheek. As Ayeka turned back to face Ryoko, what she saw truely  
frightened her. Ryoko was almost in a rage, but with tears coming out  
of her eyes at a quite rapid pace.  
  
She hadn't expected *this* reaction.  
  
"You don't think I already KNOW THAT!?" Ryoko screamed. "Well here is  
something you DON'T konw, bitch princess. Do you have ANY IDEA what it  
was like to be YELLED AT by the man you love? Fuck being left alone,  
what about being YELLED AT? DO YOU KNOW? DO YOU?"  
  
Ayeka was stunned silent.  
  
"And what's more, EVERYTHING TENCHI SAID TO ME WAS TRUE!" Ryoko  
continued, almost in a fit of hystaria. "I've been nothing but,  
SELFISH about him, and I HURT HIM!! I didn't know that I was doing it,  
but I was HURTING HIM THIS WHOLE TIME!"  
  
"But he was...he was talking about me to..." stammered Ayeka, trying to  
make a suitable comback  
  
"Yeah, but the only difference is that YOU TWO made up." ejaculated  
Ryoko, quickly loosing her composure. "But he...he...."  
  
Ryoko stood there for a second, trying to add words to her unfiished  
sentance, tears streaming down her eyes. Suddenly, with a cry, Ryoko  
collapsed on her knees and buried her head in Ayeka's kimono, much  
to the startlment of Ayeka. But she didn't push Ryoko away...she  
couldn't...  
  
Ryoko buried her head in Ayeka's kimono for a few minutes before her  
moist eyes made contact with Ayeka's.  
  
"I...hurt him....like I hurt everything else I seem to be around."  
whimpered Ryoko, quietly. "I can't stand it any longer. I don't want  
to hurt him anymore. Please understand...Ayeka..."  
  
Silence....  
  
"Please..." repeated Ryoko.  
  
Slowly, as if her head was made of cement, Ayeka finally nodded her  
head an affirmative. Ryoko sighed and slowly made her way to her feet.  
  
"Well....I guess I'll be seeing you areound, Ayeka." Ryoko said, turning  
her back to Ayeka.  
  
"No...please...wait..." Ayeka stammered, still trembling from the  
events that had just took place.  
  
"Tell Tenchi after sunset that I'm gone from his life. But please tell  
him why I'm leaving too...I hope he understands..."  
  
"Sunset...." Ayeka stammered again, loosing her cohearancy midway  
through the sentance.  
  
"Yes....I want to see the Earth's sun set....one last time."  
  
And with that parting shot, Ryoko slowly faded out of view.  
  
Ayeka, still too stunned by Ryoko's words to even object, watched as  
the form of Ryoko faded away and vanished from sight. But even after  
that, she didn't move for quite some time. She just stared at where  
Ryoko had been, moments before, now with a million thoghts weaving in  
and out of her mind.  
  
*So, she finally gave Tenchi up to you...* Ayeka thought. *This is how  
it ends. All the arguments, all the fighting...*  
  
*No, it's NOT the end* another voice inside her said. *All you have to  
do is tell Tenchi, and Tenchi will make sure that Ryoko doesn't leave.*  
  
*So why aren't you? Go ahead and get a move on it and tell Tenchi!*  
  
*I....don't know...*  
  
"Ae-chan?" came a voice from behind Ayeka. Noticably startled, she  
spun around to find the one she had been thinking about right behind  
her.  
  
"Ye...yes Tenchi?" Ayeka responded, still a little shaken.  
  
"Did you see Ryoko anywhere?"  
  
Ayeka was silent. Buut her mind was far from it.  
  
*Come on, Ayeka. This is your moment of truth...*  
  
Ayeka's lips parted...  
  
*Come on...come on...*  
  
"N....no, Tenchi. I'm sorry."  
  
As soon as she had spoken the words, her mind was screaming ten million  
different things at her. Vaguely, she could hear Tenchi tell her:  
  
"It's OK, Ayeka. We will just have to keep looking."  
  
"Yes....well, I'll keep looking for her too, Ten-chan." she said, as an  
almost automatic response. She turned away and started walking back  
through the forest.  
  
"Ayeka?"  
  
She froze.  
  
"Yes, Ten-chan?" asked Ayeka, looking over her shoulder.  
  
"Thank you for helping look for Ryoko." said Tenchi. "I know you made  
a difficult decision last night, but it is something I can never thank  
you enough for."  
  
Ayeka's stomach tied itself into a knot as Tenchi spoke. She gritted  
her teeth, and managed to sputter out; rather quickly...  
  
"Thank you, Ten-chan."  
  
And with that, Ayeka turned back around and walked into the forest,  
her mind on autopilot, her conciousness' intensity level increased  
ten-fold  
  
Neither of them had noticed a small intruder scampering away from the  
scene that had just unfolded. It scampered through the underbrush in  
a seemingly random direction for some time before emerging onto another  
forest path nearby. The path was not vacant, as there was another  
member of the household walking down it. However, this time, the  
spy made no attempt to conceal itself.  
  
"Merow, Miya! Miya!" said Ryo-oh-oki, scampering up to Sasami.  
  
"What is it Ryo-oh-oki? Did Ayeka find Ryoko all right." Sasami asked,  
addressing the cabbit and getting down on her knees.  
  
The cabbit nodded its head in approval.  
  
"And has oneesama told Tenchi yet...?"  
  
  
Ayeka was under Ryo-oh, wallowing in her dillema.  
  
She didn't know what to do.  
  
She knew that she had come far. She had seemingly erradicated the  
hatred and contempt she had for Ryoko in one night. She had even  
demonstrated it by pleading with Ryoko to stay. And she had broken  
through. Tenchi would meet Ryoko, and admit his love for her, and  
everything would be settled...  
  
So why had she not told Tenchi about Ryoko yet?  
  
It wasn't hard. All Ayeka had to do was find Tenchi, tell him where  
Ryoko was, and everything would be back to normal.  
  
But as she sat there, she felt something unexpected creep up on her.  
She remembered...last night...  
  
Pictures of herself and Tenchi in each others arms phased through her  
mind at a rapid pace. Her pulse quickened.  
  
But as soon as they had started, she saw Ryoko come up from behind  
Tenchi and pluck him from her grasp. Tenchi, overjoyed to see her,  
laughed as he picked her up, and went dancing through a field filled  
with dandilions and other earthly flowers.  
  
The princess could only look on, only a mere observer to the scene  
playing out before her, too helpless to be angry, too lost to remember  
Tenchi's promise to love her...She just watched her true love with  
another woman...a basic female primal fear welling up in the princess,  
almost to the point of bursting....ahhHHHHHH  
  
Suddenly, Ayeka came to herself once more. She was back under the  
former tree ship, but she was breathing rapidly, and wide eyed with  
fear.  
  
Fear...  
  
She now knew her predicament fully. She knew that once Tenchi and  
Ryoko were together again, she could never have him to herself again.  
Of course, she knew this before, but she just then realized the  
implications of the decision.  
  
Did Tenchi really love her as much as he loved Ryoko?  
  
*No question about it! He told you himself*  
  
*But will he? And he know his own feelings? So far as I could tell,  
all Tenchi even talked about was Ryoko...at least today.*  
  
*Well of course! Ryoko had run away! And now you are the only other  
person who knew why, other than Ryoko herself! And you kow what it  
is like to be lonely. Why would you want to inflict the wound of  
denied love - one you fear and loath - on anyone else? Even Ryoko?*  
  
*Because I'm scared!*  
  
*Of loosing Tenchi to yourself?*  
  
*Yes! How do I know if...*  
  
*Wait a second, didn't I just cover this?*  
  
Suddenly realizing that she had just led herself in a circle, Ayeka did  
the only thing she could do. Her eyes grew moist, and she attempted to  
hold back tears as she took a deep breath and readjusted herself laying  
up against the tree ship. She knew her soul would never forgive her if  
she stayed mute, but she also diidn't want to hurt if she did let Tenchi  
and Ryoko find each other. She knew all too well the feeling of hurt at  
loosing someone you love, a sharp pain that leaves a emotional scar.  
  
She was at a loss of how to proceed. How was she to know what to do if  
she couldn't even figure out her own feelings?  
  
*It's all so confusing.* she thought, bitterly. *I just don't know  
what to do....*  
  
Suddenly, she noticed something...different about her surroundings.  
She blinked a few times, so she could see clearly. And almost as soon  
as she did, her heart almost jumped to her throat.  
  
Standing there in front of her, Sasami stood, looking over Ayeka with  
visible concern.  
  
"Oneesama?" Sasami asked.  
  
"Sa..sasami?" Ayeka managed to sputter out.  
  
"Why are you crying?" Sasami inquired, with some concern.  
  
"I'm not...Sasami...I'm just...resting." responded Ayeka, rather  
quickly. She knew better than to think Sasami would really beleive  
her, but she had to stall Ssaami for a moment so she could figure out a  
way to come up with a good explination.  
  
But for some odd reason, Sasami responded apatheticly:  
  
"Oh...I'm sorry, did I wake you up?"  
  
"No...it's all right Sasami." Ayeka said, as an automatic response.  
She was a bit perplexd with Sasami. Either Sasami didn't get her lie,  
or she was deciding not to press the subject.  
  
"Well, I saw something that you might want to see." said Sasami,  
immediatly switching gears.  
  
Now Ayeka was even more puzzled. What could Sasami want to show her?  
It sounded like something important, as Sasami had made no attempt to  
stall the point of her request. She responded with interest.  
  
"Really? What is it?"  
  
"You will haev to come and see for yourself." replied Sasami, with a  
smile beaming across her face.  
  
Ayeka sighed, defeated, and rose to her feet. Sasami took Ayeka by the  
hand and led her away from the tree. When Ayeka and Sasami crossed the  
stepping stone bridge that crossed the small pond around Ryo-oh, the  
older princess paused in mid-step and looked down into the water below.  
  
She squinted from the glare, but in the otherwise crystal clear water,  
she could make out the face of a frightened and sad young woman against  
the backdrop of a bright orange sky.  
  
A bright orange sky?  
  
Ayeka looked up at the horizion. Dusk was setting in. The day was  
almost over. Ayeka knew she had to make a decision, and soon.  
  
"Hurry up Ayeka!" shouted Sasami. She was already all the way across to  
the other side.  
  
Ayeka sighed and started walking toward Sasami. Reaching her, the two  
walked off into the forest, Sasami leading the way.  
  
  
Tenchi looked up into the sky and sighed as he walked. The sun was low  
in the sky. The whole day he had searched the forest, and the  
collective efforts of himself and Ayeka had not come up with a trace of  
Ryoko. There was no trace of Ryo-oh-oki either. Washu still refused  
to open her door. Katsuhito had not seen Ryoko near his shrine.  
Everyone else was gone.  
  
Tenchi shook his fist - the one he had injured the night before - in  
the air in anger. His hand still ached. But his disgust with himself  
was a pain far worse than that, or any other pain he had ever  
experienced in his life.  
  
*Why does this have to hurt so much?*  
  
He thought that Ryoko would be off sulking somehwere. He beleived when  
the day started that he would probably find Ryoko crying somewhere, and  
he would find her, comfort her, apologize, and everything would be all  
right.  
  
But it was dusk now. And no Ryoko in sight.  
  
Perhaps fate had this in store for him. Perhas it was his lesson about  
true love, one he had never even considered before, and something that  
he had never even known he had until his self-discovery last night.  
  
And it seemed that there was nothing he could do about it now. He had  
already looked for her. Either wait until Washu could find Ryoko, or  
wait for Ryoko to come back.  
  
Perhaps things would be better if he did wait it out. After all, how  
long could one of Washu's experiments take? But would that heal the  
emotional scar? Or would it deepen it, with the legnth of time finally  
convincing Ryoko that he really didn't care about her.  
  
Tenchi sighed. It was so hard to make decisions.  
  
He finally came to himself and relized that he had finally walked full  
circle back to the place he had started from earlier that afternoon.  
Soon, the light would be too dim for him to see. Tenchi shook his head  
and started to walk back to the house.  
  
It was then that he noticed something on the ground. And immediatly  
he remembered.  
  
His sketchbook. He had left it here earlier when he started looking  
for Ryoko again in the afternoon. He picked it up.  
  
Paging through it, he found the picture he had been working on that  
afternoon. He had not quite finnished it when he had left this on the  
ground. He looked up at the sun. It probably had about an hour's  
worth of good sunlight left.  
  
Tenchi looked in both directions, to make sure he was alone. Finally,  
he sat down and took out his pencil and began to draw once more. Soon,  
he was immersed fully in his drawing, his mind almost one with his  
drawing, his hand motions stacatto yet deliberate.  
  
So immsered that he did not seem notice two people who were slowly and  
carefully making their way through the brush behind him.  
  
"I don't see why we have to be so quiet, Sasami." said the first  
figure, softly.  
  
"Shhh..." the second one said. "..come on Ayeka, we're almost there."  
  
"Fine...but I must say, Sasami, that this is not a very well beaten..."  
Ayeka said to Sasami, before she was stopped in midsentince. She and  
Sasami had trod through the woods at a rather rapid pace, and Ayeka was  
getting tired of paving their own path through the forest. But then,  
she looked up ahead...  
  
There was Tenchi, with his back turned to him, doing...something.  
Ayeka could not see from here. She turned and saw Sasami motion with  
her hand for her to come closer. Quietly, trying to make as little  
noise as possible, she followed Sasami closer and closer to Tenchi, who  
was seeming oblivious to any other human presence.  
  
It was quite a while before she got close enough to Tenchi to see him  
clearly, while keeping a safe distance from him. Sasami pointed in  
Tenchi's direction, and Ayeka tried to follow what Sasami was pointing  
out to her.  
  
Then she saw it. The sketchbook. Ayeka, ever so cautiously, drew closer  
to Tenchi, to observe what he was drwaing. She squinted her eyes to make  
out the details of the paper...  
  
And then she almost fainted.  
  
A quite detailed picture of Ryoko displayed itself prominently in Tenchi's  
sketchbook. Ayeka fought her gut reaction to cry, and slowly started  
backing away from him.  
  
Only to find Sasami tapping on her shoulder and shaking her head. She  
seeming pointed once more toward Tenchi, this time in a more urgent  
mannor.  
  
mouthed Ayeka to her sister.   
  
Sasami mouthed back.  
  
Ayeka turned once more to the sketchbook and looked closer...  
  
...and saw Tenchi intericately, carefully, methodicly, shading in the  
facial features in what looked like the most beautiful representation  
of herself she had ever seen.  
  
She then realized the whole picture. Ryoko had her hand outstretchedm  
and was holding hands with the not-quite-finnished Ayeka, which Tenchi  
was currently working on now.  
  
"Ten-chan!" Ayeka exclaimed with egar and happiness.  
  
Never before had Ayeka seen someone jump as high as Tenchi did at that  
moment. A scream and a blink later, Ayeka saw Tenchi across the forest  
pathway, almost convulsing with fright.  
  
Sasami was giggling at the specticle before her before finally  
exclaiming:  
  
"Silly Tenchi. It's just me and Ayeka."  
  
Upon hearing Sasami's voice, Tenchi took a deep breath, and managed  
to calm himself down.  
  
"Oh...Sasami, you two scared me." he managed to say.  
  
"I'm terribly sorry Ten-chan...but..." Ayeka responded, her lips  
starting to act on their own account.  
  
"Yes?" responded Tenchi. Ayeka could almost see him 'perk up'.  
  
"I...think I've seen Ryoko." she said, her mind almost a swirl of  
emotion.  
  
"Really?" Tenchi exclaimed, almost frantically. "Where is she?"  
  
"At...at the cave." Ayeka sputtered out. She knew as soon as she said  
it that her fate was sealed.  
  
"The cave? But I already searched there?"  
  
"Trust me, she's there." Ayeka said. If this was sealing her fate,  
she asked herself, why did it feel so *good*?  
  
"Come on, Tenchi!" exclaimed Sasami. "Let's get to the cave!"  
  
She didn't need to tell him twice. Almost as fast as one could one  
could blink, Tenchi was on his feet and sprinting down the path in the  
direction of the cave. Sasami tried to run off after him, but  
obviously the younger princess could not keep up with him.  
  
He didn't even notice that Ayeka had stayed where she was.  
  
For a moment, she stood there. She didn't say a word. But her mind  
was already second-guessing her decision.  
  
Then she noticed something on the ground. She stepped closer to  
examine the object.  
  
It was Tenchi's sketchbook.  
  
And the page was open to the picture he had been drawing only a moment  
before. Ayeka picked up the sketchbook and looked once more over the  
picture ... the picture that had said what a thousand promises by  
Tenchi couldn't do. There, the likeness of herself was standing there,  
holding hands with Ryoko, smiles on both of their faces, tremendous  
detail put into both figures.  
  
Tenchi really did love both of them. That, at least, she could be  
certain. Wheather she knew that she loved Ryoko was immiterial now,  
if Tenchi loved both of them, a close bond was inevitable. She closed  
the sketchbook and held it against her chest. Her lips parted  
silently, as she spoke just as silently, words that spoke volumes.  
  
*Tenchi...please bring Ryoko back...*  
  
And just like that, all the guilt and pain washed away from Ayeka like  
sand on a beach. She closed her eyes in a near-bliss state of mind.  
  
"Ayeka?"  
  
Ayeka opened her eyes once more, to find that Sasami was now standing  
in front of her.  
  
"Aren't you coming, oneesama?" Sasami asked.  
  
"No, Sasami." Ayeka responded. "And you don't need to either."  
  
"Wh...why not, oneesama?" Sasami inquired, a little disappointed.  
  
"This is something that Ryoko and Tenchi need to work out themselves,  
Sasami." Ayeka said. Then she smiled. "Don't worry, he will bring  
Ryoko back."  
  
Sasami's face brighted at Ayeka's prediction. "He will?" she asked.  
  
"Of course." Ayeka reassured Sasami...and herself.  
  
She felt like she was prepared for what came after Tenchi would  
apologize to Ryoko. But what she wasn't prepared for was the  
back-breaking hug that Sasami then gave her sister just a split second  
after Ayeka had finnished speaking.  
  
"Thank you, oneesama!" said Sasami, her eyes closed and her arms in a  
lock around Ayeka.  
  
"...You're welcome...*gak*...I guess..." replied Ayeka, not quite sure  
what she had to be thanked for by Sasami, but it took a lot to make  
Sasami give her a hug like that, and so Ayeka went with the flow. As  
she did, she looked up into the quickly darkening sky, praying she  
didn't see the black and red form of Ryo-oh-oki flying off into the  
distance.  
  
  
Ryoko sighed.  
  
So why hadn't he come?  
  
Or rather, why was she so concnerned?  
  
She knew the answer before she asked herself the question. She knew  
that she needed to patch things up with Tenchi before she left. She  
knew that Ayeka would probably not bother to explain to Tenchi what she  
had wanted her to. So then, after Ayeka told him, he would probably  
come running to her. She knew that anything Ayeka told him wouldn't  
satisfy him. He needed to hear it straight from her.  
  
Which brought her in a circle. Why hadn't Tenchi come?  
  
Could Ayeka have not told Tenchi?  
  
Could she?  
  
Ryoko sighed. Maybe everything Ryoko had told her had made an impact  
on her. Maybe she decided not to risk her monopoly over Tenchi by  
keeping silent. Maybe that bitch really hasn't changed a bit, and was  
doing it for Tenchi.  
  
Ryoko looked up into the sky. The sun was almost out of visible range.  
Well, in any case, she was about to find out.  
  
All of the sudden, she heard the rustle of feet on the ground. Her  
mind came off all of its side tracks to form one simultanious word in  
her mind.  
  
  
  
Almost before her mind could react, she began to vanish out of panic.  
But before she did, she heard the panicked words of the person who had  
been pursuing her.  
  
"RYOKO! NO, STOP IT!" screamed the intruder.  
  
The power of those words alone was enough to give Ryoko pause. She  
stopped her teleportation and turned to face the one who was making  
one last attempt to hold on to her. So he had come. Now she needed  
to bring this chapter of her life to a clone.  
  
Neither of them spoke for a moment. They could only stare at each  
other, trying to find the right words to say.  
  
Finally, Ryoko broke the ice.  
  
"Why, Tenchi?" Ryoko said, rather sadly.  
  
"Ryoko..." Tenchi got out, before Ryoko interrupted him.  
  
"Why must you put either of us through this?" she asked.  
  
"But Ryoko..."  
  
"Tenchi. I can't do this anymore." she declared.  
  
"I'm sorry..." Tenchi tried to say.  
  
"No! Don't be. It's not your fault. It was mine."  
  
"No...Ryoko, please listen to me..." Tenchi tried to sputter out, in  
another attempt to speak, but once again Ryoko interrupted him, this  
time more forcefully.  
  
"No, Tenchi! You listen to me!" Ryoko said, quite harshly.  
  
This time, Tenchi was silent.  
  
"I'ev held on too tight to you Tenchi. I thought that I could have you  
all to myself." Ryoko said. "But last night..."  
  
"Ryoko, I said I'm sorry about that." Tenchi said, exasperated.  
  
"I know you are Tenchi" replied Ryoko. "But last night taught me a few  
things about myself. I realized, when I saw you and Ayeka together  
night that I was in way too deep. I was getting in the middle of  
something between you two that I shouldn't."  
  
Tenchi's heart almost jumped to his stomach as he listened. So Ryoko  
had thought that he had actually chosen Ayeka. It was just a simple  
misunderstanding.  
  
Tenchi would have laughed. Would have if the situation wasn't so damn  
serious. As he thought to himself, he continued to listen to Ryoko  
speaking.  
  
"I felt a pain. Something that I had never felt before. I was getting  
between you two and denying two people who are in love of each other by  
intervening. I just...can't get between you two anymore. I don't want  
to hurt you two anymore. I don't want to hurt *myself* anymore." One  
could tell that Ryoko was unsucessfully trying to hold back tears.  
  
So she thought that he had chosen...  
  
This time, Tenchi's heart went from his mouth and the bottom dropped out  
of his stomach.  
  
CHOSEN!? OH DEAR KAMI-SAMA NO...  
  
While his mind was screaming at him, he heard the high pitched wine  
of Ryo-oh-oki, and heard Ryoko say...  
  
"Trust me, Tenchi. It's better this way..." she said, almost in tears.  
  
Tenchi came to himself, his mind still screaming. His breaths were  
coming in shorts gasps as his pulse quickened.  
  
"Goodbye...Tenchi."  
  
This time, he almost felt like a ten ton weight had been dropped on  
him. From the depths of his vocals, all his stregnth was concentrating  
in it, and was forming one word just as Ryoko started to vanish.  
  
And he let it loose.  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Tenchi screamed out of desperation.  
  
Almost as quick as lightning, Tenchi lunged for her with his remaining  
stregnth...  
  
...and his world started spinning around him as he felt him leaving  
himself, for lack of a better description...  
  
  
When Tenchi finally found himself cohearent again, he felt strangely  
calm, and at peace with the world. It took him a few seconds to  
realized that he lips were one with Ryoko's. All other pretences, all  
other arguments, all other 'does he...?' or 'does she...?'s vanished.  
  
All that was left was an understanding.  
  
Their lips parted slowly. Ryoko looked up at Tenchi.  
  
"Tenchi...?" Ryoko said, almost in a state of bliss.  
  
"The only thing that would hurt me more than you have is if you eveer  
left me." Tenchi said.  
  
"Tenchi...but Ayeka...?" Ryoko responded, weakly.  
  
"I was about to apologize to you before you vanished on me the first  
time." Tenchi said. "Ayeka saw us, and came out to apologize for  
causing so much trouble. But you know what I told her?"  
  
"What, Tenchi."  
  
"That I couldn't stand to live without you." Tenchi said.  
  
Ryoko said nothing, but muzzled her head in Tenchi's chest.  
  
"When you saw us coming back from the shrine, you vanished again  
before I could apologize to you. I realized that you had been hurt,  
hurt in a much deeper way than I could ever imagine."  
  
"Then I did something I never thought I would do. I begged Ayeka to  
accept my love for both you and her..." Tenchi said, with a little  
bit of a pause at the end of his last comment for effect. "And she  
said yes."  
  
Ryoko continued to nuzzle Tenchi. Tenchi softly pried Ryoko off him  
so they were face to face.  
  
Slowly, ever so slowly, Tenchi lowered himself on one knee and bowed  
his head.  
  
"Now I ask you. Will you forgive me for being so cold to you, and  
accept our love as well as Ayeka's?" Tenchi asked. He held his breath  
for the response, but knew that somehow...he had broken thro  
  
"Why..Tenchi?" Ryoko managed to say, though her hand was already on  
Tenchi's shoulder.  
  
"Becuase I love both of you. I told her that too. I can't make a  
decision. I don't want to make a decision. I just want the freedom  
to love both of you." Tenchi replied.  
  
Ryoko firmed her grasp on Tenchi's shoulder, and she raised him up  
until they were once again facing each other. When Tenchi looked into  
Ryoko's eyes again, they were still moist with tears, which were slowly making  
  
"Why...Tenchi...why didn't you just let me go?" Ryoko said, though her  
body language told a very different story instead of rejection. Her  
hands seemed to grip Tenchi as if he was the edge of a large cliff.  
Tenchi encircled his arms back around Ryoko as a reassurance, scared  
that she might suddenly become frightened and run off.  
  
"Because I know that's not what you really want." replied Tenchi. "You  
don't want to be alone. And I love you too much to let you go..."  
  
Tenchi paused. Ryoko said nothing, though the increased amount of  
tears streaming down her face spoke volumes. They moved their heads  
closer together, their conciousness almost in unison.  
  
"Please Ryoko...don't run away..." pleaded Tenchi.  
  
"Please...just stay here...with me..." pleaded Ryoko, almost at the same  
time.  
  
They paused only for a moment to absorb what the other had said before  
their lips met in a passionate kiss. As he absorbed himself in his  
emotions, Tenchi once again felt his worlds swimming around him, though  
his mind was too wrapped up to care.  
  
  
As Tenchi's lips parted from Ryoko's once more, he finally became aware  
of his surroundings once more. The soft white moonlight was reflecting  
off of Ryoko's face, and a sparkle was in Ryoko's eyes. But unlike  
before a smile, a genuine smile was on her face, something that Tenchi  
had not seen in a long time, and one that had certainly had never been  
directed at him before. Tenchi could also feel Ryo-oh-oki nuzzling  
against his leg.  
  
Ryoko only looked at Tenchi for another moment before hugging him.  
  
"Thank you Tenchi..."  
  
Tenchi sighed with contentment. He had done it. Done what he thought  
was impossible...  
  
"Woo hoo! Go Tenchi!"  
  
"That's my boy Tenchi!"  
  
Tenchi almost jumped ten feet in the air as he heard the sound of  
voices coming from the nearby forest. He spun around almost  
immediatly to find that some of the household had gathered at the edge  
of the forest clearing, and were looking on with various reactions.  
Ryoko, who was still hugging him at the time, jumped back from Tenchi  
just in time before she was thrown from him.  
  
Washu was standing at the end of the clearing, a beaming smile on her  
face. Standing beside her, Sasami was there, a huge blush on her face  
and her hand over her face, apparently trying to keep from giggling.  
Noboyuki was there as well, and Tenchi guessed he was the owner of  
the later comment that he had heard.  
  
"Nice going Tenchi." Washu commented. "Looks like you kept from  
breaking my daughters heart after all. I was worried there for a  
moment."  
  
"Well, uh...thanks Miss Washu...." stammered Tenchi, not quite sure  
what conclusion to draw from her comment.  
  
Suddenly, Ryoko spoke up.  
  
"Wait a second Washu....how did you know...?"  
  
"Remember, Ryoko." Washu lectured to her daughter. "Since I am  
connected to you, I am also connected to Ryo-oh-oki as well."  
  
"So you..." Tenchi said, glancing down at Ryo-oh-oki for a moment, who  
looked up at him and "Miya!"ed.  
  
"Oh no you didn't..." Ryoko added, her face growing red with  
embarassment.  
  
"Well I IDD say I was doing an experiment, didn't I?" said Washu.  
"It was kind of obvious that something had happened. I mean, after  
all the racket you three were making upstairs, and when Tenchi didn't  
come back down with either of you, I knew something was up. So I  
decided to...well...listen in on what was happening. I was able to  
get some of the story from Ryoko, but I found Ryo-oh-ki to also be  
quite useful as well."  
  
Tenchi and Ryoko both facefaulted, both quite embarassed at the  
predicament.  
  
I swear I'll get you for this Washu. Ryoko glared at Washu.  
  
responded Washu, coyly.  
  
"Oh and one more thing Tenchi." said Washu, as she waked up to Tenchi  
and stared straight up into his face.  
  
"Umm...what, Washu?" asked Tenchi, a bit puzzled.  
  
*CHOCK*  
  
"Break my daughters heart like that again, and it will be hell to pay  
for you, buster." threatened Washu, pointing a gun that was almost as  
big as she was at him at point blank range.  
  
"I'm...I....I'm...ahhhh....." stammered Tenchi, quite intimidated by the  
nasty object being pointed at him at the moment.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Tenchi." Washu said, putting her gun away. "I  
know you're sorry."  
  
Tenchi sighed with releif.  
  
  
As this spectacle was going on, one of the other members of the  
household was sitting against the trunk of Funaho reflecting on the  
events of the day.  
  
She had done it. She had finally gotten Ryoko and Tenchi together  
again. At least, speaking to each other...  
  
She took out the sketchbook that she had picked up off the ground when  
Tenchi had gone running off to find Ryoko. She turned the page until  
she came to the sketch she had seen Tenchi drawing earlier. Herself  
and Ryoko holding hands. So Tenchi did love both of them.  
  
But could she trust Ryoko. Was the picture on the page wishful  
thinking? How could she possibly trust Ryoko in such a matter as love,  
when beforehand she wouldn't trust Ryoko as far as she could fry her.  
  
"Ayeka?"  
  
Ayeka's train of thought hit a brick wall as she jumped up at the  
sudden sound. She turned to face the intruder...  
  
"Ahhh...oh, it's...you Ryoko."  
  
Indeed, only a few few feet away, Ryoko had appeared quite  
uncerimoniously. She stepped forward to reveal herself fully, so to  
be unobscured by the shadows of the trees.  
  
"I didn't see you at the cave, so I looked for you. Luckily, I know  
where people are more likely to show up." Ryoko said, with a bit of  
coyness in her voice, although she didn't intend it maliciously.  
  
Neither of them spoke for a moment.  
  
"Well...this is certainly an unexpected outcome..." remarked Ryoko  
after a while. She sat down as she spoke. Ayeka courtiously followed  
suit.  
  
There was a subtle tension in the air between the two girls. Neither of  
them spoke for a moment.  
  
Ryoko was the first to break the silence.  
  
"Ayeka...about this afternoon."  
  
"It's all right, Ryoko..." Ayeka replied.  
  
More silence...  
  
"Well..." Ryoko said, once again breaking the uneasy silence. "...this  
is an outcome I never expected."  
  
"Neither did I." replied Ayeka. "So you and Tenchi made up, I assume?"  
  
"Yeah," said Ryoko. "Thank you for telling Tenchi. To be honest, I  
beleived that he wanted me to stay...somewhat, but I wanted it to  
hear it straight from Tenchi before I could be sure."  
  
"Well, I don't blame you...I suppose..." said Ayeka. "And to be quite  
honest, I almost didn't tell him."  
  
Ryoko said nothing. Nor did she show any threatening indication.  
Ayeka continued.  
  
"I just...well....to be honest, I didn't trust him. Or you either. I  
mean, all three of us are dealing with something that has the potential  
to bring pain if dealed with incorrectly."  
  
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Ryoko responded. "It seems that all of  
us did a lot of growing up in the past twenty four hours. I'm  
surprised it turned out as well as it did..."  
  
"Perhaps." said Ayeka. "But why did you still insist on not wanting to  
see Tenchi until he came."  
  
"Well, now that I think about it, I guess I didn't trust you either. I  
don't know if I realized it at the time, but I didn't trust you either,  
so maybe I did it to see if you would have the guts to actually tell  
him."  
  
"Yes, I'm afraid Sasami had to help me out on that one."  
  
"Yeah, she's a cute little thing. I would have hated to leave her."  
  
"Yes..." said Ayeka. Then she remembered something. "And you won't  
beleive what convinced me."  
  
With that, she picked up the sketchbook that she had left on the ground  
of Funaho and showed it to Ryoko, who glanced over it for a second.  
  
"So he really wants us to be friends." said Ryoko after a minute.  
"Frankly, I doubt it. I know we share Tenchi, but...well to be honest  
I would kinda' miss teasing you."  
  
"Hrrmmmmm...." thought Ayeka. "Perhaps you're right."  
  
More silence.  
  
"So...would you consider this a happy ending?" Ryoko asked.  
  
"Possibly." said Ayeka. She sighed. "I do have one regret, though..."  
  
"You mean you wish you could have Tenchi to yourself?"  
  
"Yes...I'm sorry Ryoko."  
  
"No, don't be." insisted Ryoko. "I wish I had him to myself too. But  
I guess fate has something else in store for us."  
  
"Perhaps..." replied Ayeka, staring off thoughtfully into the  
starlight "Perhaps it does..."  
  
After a while, Ryoko got up.  
  
"Well, let's go back to the house, shall we?" asked Ryoko "After all,  
I'm sure a certain someone is waiting for us."  
  
"Yes...lets go back to the house." replied Ayeka, also getting up. But  
just before she took a step, Ryoko grinned devilishly.  
  
"I call tonight with Tenchi!" giggled Ryoko as she disappeared into the  
night.  
  
Ayeka was stone for a few seconds before...  
  
"NOW WAIT JUST A SECOND MISS RYOKO" she screamed, taking off in hot  
pursit into the forest after Ryoko, under the star lit sky.  
  
- = = = = -  
  
This is Layer 01 of this particular fic.  
  
Please, do not distribute this work without my permission.  
This is only a draft, which can only be seen by persons who I have  
personlly sent a copy to.  
  
What are layers?  
  
Well, I write in "layers" of text.  
  
I write the outline first, very basic and undescriptive.  
  
Then, I add Layer 02, which adds all of the (still basic)  
description.  
  
Layer 03 takes the longest, since it basically elaborates on all of  
the sentances in a poetic way. (i.e. "crying with joy" becomes "with  
tears streaming down her face, unable to be held back by the sheer  
happiness she was now experiencing.") Also, this is the version I  
hand out to pre-readers.  
  
Layer 04 is the final product, and it is the spell-checked version of  
Layer 03. I may add a little pinch of something here or there, to make  
the fic flow better as well.  
  
So no hate mail saying that this story sucks. It's still in early  
stages.  
  
- = = = = -  
  
#END  
  
A (C) is an amazing thing. Sure, to the untrained eye, it may just be  
a "C" in parenthesis. Only when one puts it in a sentance such as  
"This fic is Copyright (C) 2002 Alex Mayfield." does it make sense. So  
I will. This fic is Copytight (C) 2002 Alex Mayfield. Boy that was  
redundant. So sue me.  
  
Or actually, on second thought, don't sue me. I own the text copyrght  
to this work, but Tenchi Muyo! all charactors in this story are  
property of their respective owners. Did I ask them before I used  
their charactors in this story? No. But I'm not making any money off  
of this work of literature anyway, so I honestly don't think they care.  
And even if they did, they have shakey (if any) legal dirt on me, or  
any other respectable fan fiction writer. (Note I said respectable.  
You could call one of Tank Cop's fics Charactor Slander without too  
much of a stretch of the imagination.) So don't bother suing me.  
  
Don't bother sending me hate mail either. I have yet to get any (At  
least any pertaining to my fics. LightningZ, if you are reading this,  
you are an idiot, and you are NOT WANTED back at AGN.), but just in  
case you have a beef with me, do me a favor and delete it now.  
Otherwise, horrible, HORRIBLE, things will happen to you.  
  
What you CAN send me are corrections pertaining to spelling, grammer,  
and references to the OAV continum. Or, if you liked this story, you  
can send me mail telling me what you liked about it. I love fan mail.  
I eat it up. Whatever your choice, send it to  
(alexmayfield@carolina.rr.com). You can also find me at  
(alexmax@zeldaclassic.com), and it really doesn't matter which one  
you send stuff to, as I use the Zelda Classic email service to check my  
Roadrunner POP3 mail anyway.  
  
I STILL don't have my new website up. And I probably never will. AGN  
is my 'home' now. But if you want to see it, on the off chance I DO  
finnish it, you can find it at (http://alexmax.web1000.com) Or, if you  
are so inclined, you can find my old website by going to  
(http://web.archive.org) and looking up (http://alexmax2742.tripod.com)  
  
Do yourself a favor and bookmark these sites now. I like them for a  
reason, and that is because they are cool.  
The Tenchi Muyo! Fan Fiction Archive (http://www.tmffa.com)  
My Tenchi! (http://www.mytenchi.com)  
Armageddon Games Network (http://www.armageddongames.com)  
Megatokyo (http://www.megatokyo.com)  
Home of the Underdogs (http://www.theunderdogs.org  
The Internet Archives Wayback Machine (http://web.archive.org)  
The Ayeka Fan Club (http://come.to/ayeka)  
Acts of Gord (http://www.actsofgord.com)  
Opera Software Homepage (http://www.opera.com)  
  
ph33r Lindows. Join the revolution. Come...join us....don't be  
afraid...  
  
Thank you, and have an ice day.  
  
-AlexMax 


End file.
